Wawrinka overpowered by Djokovic in Cincinnati

Williams beat Ivanovic in straight sets to win her first Cincinnati title previous year.

Djokovic beat fifth-seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-1, knocking off the player who beat him for the French Open title.

In women’s action Thursday, top-seeded American Serena Williams cruised into the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Italian Karin Knapp. To hold her game together, it seems she often suffers on court, near tears at times, especially in matches that matter.

In the quarter-final clash, the 28-year-old defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to seal a berth in the last four of the Masters event.

Playing in his first tournament since losing the Wimbledon final to Djokovic last month, Federer looks fresh and rested and advanced to a last eight encounter against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, who upset 2013 Cincinnati champion Nadal 5-7 6-4 7-6(3). He’ll face Federer, a six-time champion who has never lost a Cincinnati title match.

Djokovic lost the first set to the world number 66 – as he had in Miami earlier this year – but battled back to claim a 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 victory.

The Spaniard showed some positive signs of returning to form but still had to stave off nine break points.

Tennis: Serena Williams pumped her fist after each important point and screamed as she smacked another emphatic shot. A trainer checked his lower rib cage on his left side and his abdomen, and Djokovic went back out on court and took it to a tiebreaker. And he’s looking very fresh, especially with his serve.

“I’ve definitely been holding my serve very well”, Federer said. I came up with a few good defensive shots in the third set when it mattered.

It was a rematch of the 2015 French Open final which kicked off play at the Western & Southern Open.

Instead, Gasquet would go on to break Murray the first chance he got, and then finished it off 6-4 on his own serve with a forehand victor.

Hall of Fame Andre Agassi has often said a turning point in his career came when he realized “I don’t have to be the best in the world every match, I just have to be better than the other guy that day”.

Williams avoided confirming they had spoken recently, but did say, “I see her post things about me, and that’s pretty awesome”.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic started his Cincinnati Masters campaign with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Benoit Paire on Wednesday. Kevin’s lone success in second set was in the third game which he won at love.

“I won’t lose sleep over it”, Murray said of the ranking.